And my son died for the sake of these bigots

Commentary by Alun Hicks, father of Captain David Hucks, MC, who was killed in Afghanistan

As the father of a soldier killed in Afghanistan Alun Hicks was upset to see the hatred the Muslim protesters showed in Luton this week

Their eyes were what I found the most upsetting. Full of anger and hatred, they stared out from behind their placards, the antithesis of the dignified pride in the faces of the young men and women who marched before them in Luton this week.

These dedicated members of our Armed Forces had returned from places you or I would shudder to see, risking their lives daily, only to return to find scorn poured on them from the very people whose freedoms they were fighting to protect.

Even for me, a normal, law-abiding member of the community, it was difficult to swallow. But as the father of a man from the same regiment who made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of our democracy, it was both profoundly upsetting and an insult of the highest order.

Last year, my beloved son David was killed when he was hit by a Taliban rocket on the battlefields of Afghanistan.

A captain in the 1st Battalion the Royal Anglians, he was in charge of 50 men in a patrol north-east of Sangin when it came under attack by the Taliban using rocket-propelled grenades.

He died that day, having refused a morphine injection on the basis it might cloud his judgment on the battlefield to which he was determined to return. He was just 26, but he died because he had put himself right there, in the heart of danger.

Such was his courage that, following his death, he was awarded the Military Cross, which was presented to his mother Lesley and me by the Queen.

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And yet we don't think of David as a hero, but as a very fine son, serving his country in the same way that hundreds of other men and women are doing right now, every day.

That some of those men and women he fought with came home to face scenes in Luton not of welcome and gratitude but this horrendous insult to their valour upset me profoundly. I cannot imagine what went through their minds.

Like many people, I am proud of my country. We live in a democracy, one which we have been through centuries of war and bloodshed to establish. It's not perfect, but by and large we are, I think, a free, supportive and tolerant land - indeed you only have to ask yourself what would happen if a similar protest were mounted abroad, in a Muslim country, to appreciate the extent of our hard-won freedoms.

Captain David Hicks was killed when he was hit by a Taliban rocket in Afghanistan

The irony, of course, is that it is precisely because of our quiet tolerance that these protesters - although I find it difficult to label them this way, as to me, they are nothing more than preachers of hate - are able to mount their hate-filled vigils.

The right to protest is enshrined in our laws, and long may that continue, but the creation of division in society is not. They are both exacerbating rifts that exist, and creating new ones, and if I met one of them tomorrow I would like to look into their hate-filled eyes and tell them how horribly they have distorted the gifts they have been given.

There is simply no excuse for spreading such evil. It is not right to have people living within the community, enjoying all the liberties and benefits it brings, and yet still considering themselves to be outside the community.

I do not know if these people are representative of the wider Muslim community. What I do know is that these people represent the unacceptable face of Islam, and they are ghettoising themselves.

And so, as both a citizen and the father of a dead soldier, I feel we need to confront these people and these views face on, with no shilly-shallying, or liberal hand-wringing - there has been enough of that in this country.

Faces of hate: Some of the Muslim demonstrators who marred the homecoming of the Royal Anglian Regiment in Luton on Tuesday

We need to make it clear that this kind of behaviour is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

I am moderately encouraged by the angry comments yesterday from politicians of all parties on the subject, but as far as I am concerned they don't go far enough. This is not a party-political issue, but one over which representatives of all political arenas can unite in disgust.

At the same time, we must accept that we have a democratically elected government whose policies, particularly when it comes to war, we may not like or agree with, but which we must accept.

Today, as it does every day, the grief my wife and I feel for the loss of our son goes on. David is remembered every day and in everything we do, and that is why I have spoken out about those disgusting scenes in Luton this week.

Not to do so would be an affront to his memory, as well as those other members of the Armed Forces who make such huge sacrifices - and sometimes make the ultimate sacrifice - every day, fighting on the front line.

While our son was battling his terrible fatal injuries, his final thoughts were still with what he could do for his country. His mother and I learned with huge pride that even as he was being treated he ordered the medics who were looking after him to 'let me get back out there'.

Compare that with the attitude of those hate-filled Muslims who lined the streets of Luton - those who are making no other contribution to our country but to promote hatred and division.